Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 by Cory Guinn
MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – The Barton College baseball team completed its series victory over national-ranked No. 2 University of Mount Olive with a 12-3 victory in game one of Sunday's doubleheader. The Trojans earned a 6-2 victory in game two to avoid the three-game sweep.
The Bulldogs' overall record improved to 11-12 overall and 5-6 in conference play, while the Trojans record fell to 18-6 overall and 9-2 in league play after the weekend series.
Game One: Barton 12 Mount Olive 3 (Seven inn.)
Mount Olive was able to score first in game one, taking a 1-0 lead after Zak Orrison scored from third on a wild pitch in the first inning.
However, the Barton offense would flex its muscle in the top of the second scoring five runs on five hits and taking advantage of a Mount Olive fielding error.
Junior Nick McKinney singled through the right side to begin the inning before advancing to second on a one-out single from sophomore Shawn Montren. Sophomore Jacob Willis walked to load the bases as Barton tied the game at 1-1 on a sacrifice fly from redshirt-senior Mitchell Wheeler.
Sophomores Calvin Hawke and Tyler Garrett followed with back-to-back RBI singles to give the Bulldogs a 3-1 lead before a single to right center from senior Avery Harper drove in two more runs for a 5-1 Barton lead.
Barton extended its lead to 6-1 over the Trojans with an RBI single from senior Spiers Miller in the fourth inning before the Bulldogs brought across five runs on six hits in the top of the sixth inning of play.
Willis led off the sixth inning with a single to left field followed by singles from Wheeler and Hawke to load the bases with no outs on the board. Garrett brought two runners home with an RBI-single to center for an 8-1 Barton lead.
Following a pitching change for Mount Olive, Miller laced a double down the left field line to score two more runs for the Bulldogs. After the next two batters went down in order, sophomore Andrew Webster recorded his first RBI of the game with a single through the left side for a ten-run lead with just one inning to play.
In the bottom of the sixth, Mount Olive scored two runs to cut into the Bulldog lead before a solo home run by Willis in the top of the seventh put Barton ahead 12-3. The lead would remain intact as the Trojans went down in order in the bottom of the seventh inning to end the game.
Senior Brandon Warren (5-2) earned his third straight victory on the mound, allowing three runs on six hits with six strikeouts in his first complete game of the season.
Willis was 2-for-3 in the contest with his fourth home run of the season, an RBI and three runs scored, while Hawke was also 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. Garrett finished the game 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored as Miller turned in a 2-for-4 performance with a double, a run scored and three RBI of his own.
Game Two: Mount Olive 6 Barton 2
The Trojans would once again get on the board first, scoring three runs in the opening inning of game two before adding a run in the second for a 4-0 advantage.
Mount Olive used three RBI-singles in the first inning to build a three-run lead, scoring again in the second on an RBI-double before adding the final two runs of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning for a six-run lead.
Barton would answer in the top of the fifth inning with two runs of its own as Miller singled through the left side to bring across Hawke and Wheeler to cut the lead to 6-2 in favor of Mount Olive.
However, Mount Olive's Derek Justice, the reigning Conference Carolinas Pitcher of the Week, shut the door over the final four innings in a complete game effort.
In his second start of the week, redshirt-junior Louis DeCarolis (0-2) suffered the loss after giving up six runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and two walks in 3.1 innings on the mound.
Sophomore Kerry Walker allowed just two hits with three strikeouts over 2.2 innings of relief in his ninth appearance on the season, while freshman Andrew Davis pitched the final two innings of no-hit baseball for the Bulldogs, striking out three batters in the game.
Miller finished 1-for-4 at the plate with two RBI to add to his team lead, while Hawke had his second straight 2-for-3 performance with a run scored.
Barton will play host to South Atlantic Conference member Catawba College on Tuesday, March 17 in a single game at Nixon Field beginning at 2 p.m.
